In a video tape recorder (VTR), the tape is drawn by a capstan driven by a capstan motor. For slow-motion reproduction or still-picture reproduction, the tape needs to be stopped accurately so that the magnetic heads on the rotating drum are in correspondance with the track where the image is recorded on the tape, as described for instance in EP 0 849 730 A2.
In order to stop the motion of the capstan (and thus the tape), it has already been proposed, for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,694 to reverse the control direction of the capstan in a first step and to set to zero the current in the motor in a second step.
However, this solution has not proved sufficiently accurate, notably because the capstan could continue turning backwards by inertia from the first step.